Fare Thee Well’s Peter Shapiro remembers Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh

Peter Shapiro concert promoter who organized Grateful Dead50th anniversary Goodbye, goodbye show, spoke to Rolling Stone after death bassist of the group, Phil Lesh.

In recent years, Lesh has hosted annual birthday concerts for himself at the Shapiro-owned Capitol Theater in Port Chester, New York. Lesh’s five performances at the venue this past March, marking his 84th birthday, were among his last live appearances before his death on October 25.

In tribute paid Rolling StoneShapiro recalled meeting Lesh more than 20 years ago, the legendary Fare Thee Well concerts, the bassist’s annual visits to the Capitol and much more.

I loved him. He was like a father to me. He really showed us all, in many ways, how to live. He turned 84 in March of this year and had some health issues, but he still came and played five nights at the Capitol (Theater). He kept going and going. He just had inner strength and loved to play.

I met Phil in 2005 when I attended the Jammy Awards and he was one of the organisers. He recorded “Wharf Rat” and it’s a legend. This is almost 20 years ago. We have so many shows to play. I did 200 concerts with him and over 100 at the Capitol. We performed at Central Park SummerStage. I did a really cool show with him at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. I caught him with Talib Kweli at the Apollo. He played at the Brooklyn Bowl in New York and the Brooklyn Bowl in Las Vegas. When we opened Brooklyn Bowl in Nashville in 2021, he did. He simply came and blessed these places.

He loved playing with new people, introducing new musicians to music Grateful Dead – be it Robert Randolph, the pedal steel guitarist, or Eric Krasno from Soulive, or the guys from Preservation Hall (Jazz Band), or Luther Dickinson, or Jackie Green, or Chris Robinson from the Black Crowes. Gary Clark Jr. Mike Gordon from Fish. John Medeski. Joe Russo. George Porter from Meters. Dave Schools from the book “Widespread Panic”. He played a lot with his son Graham in the Terrapin Family Band. It was really important to him to pass the torch on to the next generation and he has done a lot in the last 20 years.

After Fare Thee Well in 2015, the rest of the guys did it. Dead & Company itemand Phil wanted to continue performing with these unique people. He wouldn’t rehearse much. He wanted to check out these new artists and these young cats. He loved that they had to figure it out in real time. He liked the improvisation that the Grateful Dead were famous for. He was always open to creative ideas. He was ready to explore where music could go.

He really liked the Capitol, which was the home of the Dead in 70-71. He came and played there with me for the first time in 2012. He was there with his wife Jill, and they were like, “You know what? We’ll just play here. We don’t have to get on a tour bus and go to Philadelphia (or DC). So over the next 12 years we played over 100 shows. We gave 10 concerts a year and celebrated his birthday every year. People came from all over America.

In March of this year he was no longer the same, both in terms of health and strength. And you see it in these musicians. You may have seen the Stones, or Elton, or McCartney, or Springsteen – the way these musicians can keep going and going. He got to almost 85. I don’t know if anyone can replicate his style. These Phil Lesh bass bombs were completely unique. I don’t think anyone else can do it. This is no longer the case. And it’s sad, but I’m trying to focus on how lucky we all are to have heard them for so long. It’s been 30 years since a member of the Grateful Dead passed away. This is amazing.

I’ve done more concerts with him than anyone else in my life. And he trusted me very much, and that meant a lot. I mean, I wanted to spend a few more years with him. I hoped. I really was. We should all cherish these moments we have with our musical heroes because the road is long and winding, but it ends for everyone in the end. And at the end you just have to look back and hopefully the rear view mirror is good. As soon as I arrived, there was a car in front of me, the license plate said CHINA CAT. I feel lucky.